Informix Error -4157: The statement is too complex. Try to simplify it.

Reasons / Common Causes

-4157 fires when the compiler detects a stack overflow during compilation — per the official guidance, this is especially likely under Windows, where the compiler's stack size is limited; complex expressions such as many string concatenations (||) can consume a large portion of it.

1. A statement too complex for the compiler's available stack space, per the official guidance — the direct, only cause; string concatenation chains are a named example.

Solutions / Resolution

1. Reduce the complexity of the code, per the official guidance, for example by breaking a long chain of || concatenations into intermediate steps.

Examples

A deeply chained concatenation

LET msg = a || b || c || d || e || f || g || h || i || j || k || l

Corrected

LET part1 = a || b || c || d
LET part2 = e || f || g || h
LET msg = part1 || part2 || i || j || k || l

Diagnostic Checks

1. Check the flagged statement for deeply nested or chained expressions, and break it into intermediate steps.

Related Errors / Related Topics

• -4122 — "Parser limitations have been exceeded. Try to reduce complexity or size of module." A related complexity limit, about the parser's stack rather than the compiler's general expression-evaluation stack.

A single statement is too complex for the compiler's stack — break it into intermediate steps.